Born into an air force family, Catherine Tudish grew up moving from one place to the next, living in England and France, as well as both coasts and the heartland of America. After receiving a B.A. in English from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in American Studies from St. Louis University, she began work as a teacher and journalist. Her first book, a collection of stories called Tenney’s Landing, was published by Scribner in 2005. Since then, she has published the novel American Cream, as well as numerous articles and essays in regional newspapers and magazines. Her latest book, A Thousand Souls: A Novel in Stories, will be published by Acre Books in April 2026. Catherine has taught writing and literature at George Washington University, Harvard, Dartmouth, and the Bread Loaf School of English. She lives in a village in central Vermont and teaches a community writing workshop at the local library. Born in Chicago, Peter Orner is the author of eight acclaimed books, including The Gossip Columnist's Daughter; Maggie Brown & Others; Love and Shame and Love; Esther Stories, finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award; and Am I Alone Here?, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Paris Review, The Believer, and The Best American Short Stories, and received four Pushcart Prizes. A former Guggenheim fellow and recipient of the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Orner is professor of Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. He lives with his family in Vermont, where he's also a volunteer firefighter.